This book analyzes compliments and compliment responses in naturally occurring talk-in-interaction in German. Using Conversation Analytic methodology, it views complimenting and responding to compliments as social actions which are co-produced and negotiated among interactants. This study is the first to analyze the entire complimenting sequence within the larger interactional context, thereby demonstrating the interconnectedness of sequence organization, turn-design, and (varying) function(s) of a turn. In this regard, the present study makes a novel contribution to the study of talk-in-interaction beyond German.

The book adds to existing work on interaction and grammar by closely analyzing the functions of linguistic resources used to design compliment turns and compliment responses. Here, the study extends previous Conversation Analytic work on person reference by including an analysis of inanimate object reference. Lastly, the book discusses the use and function of various particles and demonstrates how speaker alignments and misalignments are accomplished through various grammatical forms.